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All Poker Operators Cancel Live Tournaments in Russia

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

Edited to reflect new developments…

Russia has never been the center of the poker universe. But it has been an important part of it, with a number of the world’s best players hailing from that nation.

While Russian online poker players comprised a large segment of the global player pool for many years, Russian laws have forced many sites out of that country. PokerStars ended the availability of its dot-com site to the broader Russian community on November 2, 2021, leaving only a Sochi client running for satellites to live events. And just a few weeks ago, Entain pulled partypoker from the Russian market – and Moldova as well – due to regulatory concerns.

Live tournaments at Casino Sochi were still on schedule, though, until…Russia invaded Ukraine.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized military operations in Ukraine. After months of building an intimidating military presence along the Ukrainian borders, Putin ordered serious military attacks to begin on February 24. The attacks spread across a number of cities, including Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

In the days that followed, Russia increased the intensity and ferocity of its attacks on Ukraine. The moves were so brazen and unwarranted that many countries around the world began imposing sanctions on and other initiatives against Russia in attempts to stop the invasion. This also led to companies of every shape and size cutting ties with Russia. From FIFA to Apple Pay and Google Pay, from Amazon to Facebook and Twitter, the list kept growing. Car, media, oil, entertainment, sports, transportation, and technology companies left the Russian market. Within one week, the list contained dozens – heading toward hundreds – of businesses.

Poker Operators

As mentioned, most major online poker operators had already left the Russian market prior to the overt acts of war. But there was still a live poker tournament series set to take place in Sochi. PokerStars’ European Poker Tour had set EPT Sochi to begin on March 18 and to run through March 27. More than two dozen tournaments awaited players at Casino Sochi.

Within the first 48 hours, PokerStars took action. It didn’t cancel the EPT stop, though. It postponed the series until October 1-10, 2022. As of March 2, that rescheduled 28-tournament EPT Sochi series remains on the PokerStars Live website.

We reached out to PokerStars for an official statement regarding EPT Sochi and the potential for reevaluation of its partnership with Casino Sochi. Several days later, we still received no response.

Edit: While PokerStars did not reply to our query, the operator did respond to CasinoNieuws.nl. Today (March 3), PokerStars officially cancelled EPT Sochi. “No tournament will be held in Sochi until it is safe for players and staff to do so and is fit to do so.” 

According to the Hendon Mob database, there is now only one event still scheduled for Casino Sochi this year – the Sochi Poker Festival in April (not affiliated with a poker site).

In the past, partypoker, 888poker, and the World Poker Tour all hosted tournaments at the Sochi casino. However, none of them planned anything for 2022.

#NoPokerInRussia

Some poker players began making a concerted effort in the past week to reach out to the community in support of Ukraine. Specifically, several people in the Polish poker community began a movement. They started a Two Plus Two forum thread labeled “Appeal to major poker companies.” In light of the “unprovoked aggression and cruelty from Russia” toward Ukraine, the post asked for poker operators to do the following:

-1. Cancel all live tournaments scheduled for Russia, including EPT Sochi.

-2. Terminate contracts with Russian casinos.

-3. Terminate contracts with sponsored pros, Twitch streamers, and software developers from Russia.

-4. Stop offering any online poker services to poker players in Russia.

-5. Ban Russian citizens from participating in any live tournaments.

While there is some controversy about the third through fifth demands, the poker community seems to widely support the first two.

The poster also asked the poker community to use hashtags #NoPokerInRussia and #AllinAgainstRussia.

So far, though, Polish poker journalist and photographer Rafal Gladysz and Polish poker pro Michal (OzzyMTT) are two of the main people promoting the hashtags on Twitter.

Thanks to Frank Op de Woerd of CasinoNieuws in the Netherlands, we also know about the start of an EPT boycott. Dutch poker pro Joris Ruijs decided to boycott the European Poker Tour as a whole until PokerStars cancels EPT Sochi. He had planned to attend this month’s EPT tournaments in Prague.

Meanwhile, many in the poker media have amplified the voices of Ukrainian poker players like former pro Eugene Katchalov. He escaped Ukraine last week and has become a vocal advocate for Ukraine and the refugees fleeing that nation.

 

 

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